Java Moss is the best or maybe the most practical plant for shrimp . Organic matter and lots of bacteria do speed up the process but you still need acidic water and a way to continue to provide it for your tank . But you still need 6 weeks any way you look at it . But you may need 6 more weeks to cycle your substrate . Unless your water is perfect out of the tap you will have trouble getting the CRS to breed and also major problems with the babies molting . They will struggle and die while molting without the Water Being Soft and Acidic . Believe it or not most shrimp can adapt and live in many water parameters . But you will not get babies and in a year or so all your original stock will be gone . Reproduction is to me the most important thing to provide the proper conditions for . If you don't have that nothing else you do will make up for it . Lots of Biofilm is what will keep them growing and breeding if the other conditions are not perfect . In every tank I have promoting that is a priority after I add the substrate and make sure I have added the things that biofilm grows best with Such as Malaysian Driftwood , Cholla Wood , Dried Acidic Leave's , Alder cone's , and other organic items . When I go out and collect I get large quanties of those items or in the case of the driftwood and Cholla buying them . And that needs to go in ASAP as that is food for the Biofilm . I also would never try without an oversize sponge filter . Maybe I am going overboard but to me appearence is secondary and creating optimum conditions for the shrimp is primary . Just my opinion shrimp are adaptable and can be raised many ways . I need simple and cheap ways that produce results and can be replicated over and over

A well established tank has a ton of (pretty much invisible) life forms in it. Bio-film, micro-fauna, etc.

Moss seems to be an especially good breeding ground for these tiny little micro-organism that shrimp (especially baby shrimp) seem to love to feed on.

There are specialized baby shrimp food but if you have a fully established tank with a good amount of moss and plants in it then you can basically just feed the adult shrimp and the babies are able to thrive eating the same sorts of micro-organisms that they would eat in nature.

How long should this take if i put a filter from a well developed tank in my new tank

The filter will provide the bacteria needed for the cycle but it won't provide any biofilm or the other things mentioned. If you have moss in another tank, driftwood in another tank, etc, those things will all help the tank jump start in biofilm and eventually the substrate, the walls of the tank, etc. That's why even taking a new tank, new substrate, etc and putting in a used filter will cycle the filter itself, it won't have time to grow the biofilm and taking rocks, substrate, moss from other tanks will help that go faster. I usually let a tank for 2-3 months before adding shrimp to let all those things happen. Right now I have two bags of substrate sitting inside pantyhose just to add to existing tanks but I rather let the substrate mature and develop some goodies until I'm ready to add them.

You can't. I'm having a feeling of deja vu here. I think I've said this before. Biofilm takes months to develop. That's why we ALL recommend waiting at least one month, preferrably 2-3 months, after you finish cycling the tank before adding any shrimp. If you are truly set on keeping Crystal Red Shrimp, let the tank mature for 3 months

Put a few mystery or nerite snails into the tank to keep the cycle alive while you wait 2-3 months for the biofilm to grow. You'll be much more successful if you do.

Please read, read and re-read our advice here. We know what we're talking about and we are doing our best to make sure you're successful. I know how hard it is to wait when you first get into fish- or shrimp-keeping (I've been there and killed a lot of fish, shrimp and snails when I first started because I was impatient). You're excited and you want it all NOW, but patience is the single most important thing when it comes to doing it right in this hobby. When you buy fish, shrimp or snails, you are agreeing to care for real living animals who rely on you 100% to provide the best environment you can for them. People blow off these animals, "oh, they're just fish/shrimp/snails, what's the big deal? It's not like they're puppies or anything." But they're animals just the same and ALL animals deserve the best life their owners can provide for them.

ive put my driftwood in my tank to jump start the cycle what else can i do

Google "fishless cycle" and "nitrogen cycle" and read. I get the feeling you're not even reading our replies. Multiple people have said the same things multiple times and you're not responding to any of it. We're happy to help people who want to learn but we can't help if someone is not going to take the time to read what we took the time to write.

Is this guy for real? I mean seriously. People are giving you solid advice, buddy. Either take their advice and have a good chance of having a successful start with your shrimp tank, or don't, and you'll have a good chance of dead shrimp and failure. It's as simple as that. The choice is yours. Asking the same question over and over isn't going to get your tank established any faster.

The good people here care about this hobby and they won't steer you in the wrong direction. Believe me.

Also.... for cycling, you'll need to wait 1 MONTH or more. When your water reads ALL 0's and your PH at the desired level. Then your ready.

Don't do what 75% of the people who see CRS for the first time and go OHHHH THOSE ARE NICE SHRIMPS I WANNA KEEP THEEM! Believe me. I was one of them haha. Yeah first time I saw CRS was from Ebay when I saw them while looking at live fish I ended up seeing live plants with CRS's on the images.

I learned my lesson the hard way by spending a lot of money and then ending up watching 6 CRS's die 1 by 1. it was so painful and I was like dam, I knew this would happen.

Best advice I can give you. Start with Neos. Red Cherries are the cheapest. It may seem like oh he's telling me to get cheap shrimp and what I'm gonna just raise them and then what?

The thing is, when you raise these guys, once you can them to breed, have the eggs hatch. Then grow those shrimplets into adults that get berried. Then your ready for CRS,

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